Our Five Frugal Things - Episode 1

I absolutely love The Non-Consumer Advocate.

With her motto of “Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without,”

Katy Wolk-Stanley inspires me to do just that.

She writes about saving money, earning money, making do with what you have,

shares great tips for thrifting and reusing items, paying it forward, and other fun stuff.

I particularly love her Five Frugal Things posts

where she shares a myriad of ways she has practiced her motto.

Her writing is inspiring, humorous and informative.

I learn so much, gather useful ideas, and I often have a good laugh.

Reading her blog really puts a smile on my face.

She encourages others to share their "Five Frugal Things" too!

So here are 5 ways we practiced being frugal in the past few weeks.

1. We enjoyed freshly harvested peas, growing in our garden.

I don't think I have ever tasted anything so naturally sweet and tender.

Delicious!

2. We turned cereal boxes into homemade canvases for my daughter to try out

her new-found passion, acrylic painting.

 I am so pleased with how well this worked and I think her art pieces came out great! 

Really good for a beginner painter!

3. While cutting back our overgrown nasturtium plants, I harvested some of the vines and turned them into wreaths which will be used at Christmas time.

4. When celebrating our wedding anniversary recently, with a special breakfast at home, we shopped at our own house for all the decor. We moved things from other areas to decorate the table and added some blooms from a tree, that needs trimming, in our garden.

5.  We borrowed books from our local library.

 Read the free neighbourhood newspaper.

We watched DVDs that we already owned and enjoyed Netflix, 

using my brother's subscription that he generously shares with us.

 We cooked most of our meals from scratch and

 enjoyed a great variety thanks to our new chore sharing strategy

 designed to teach our young adult children some vital skills.

They each have an opportunity to cook dinner twice a week. 

One of the dishes we enjoyed is Gnocchi Bolognaise.

 Madison found a recipe online and made the pasta from scratch!

 It really was delicious.

 Another meal we relished is Spicy Mince on Waffles. 

Liam did a wonderful job!